It is possible FARC commanders are residing in Ecuador to avoid
being captured in Colombia, Ecuador Police commissioner Jaime Hurtado
said Monday.
Colombian newspaper El Tiempo Sunday reported that only three members of the FARC’s secretariat, its highest body, were within Colombian borders and that the rest was residing in Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador. The newspaper based it report on undisclosed government information.
“In investigations you can never exclude anything. We ourselves will have to verify and conduct investigations,” the highest ranked police official of Colombia’s southern neighbor said on Ecuadorean television in response to the article.
“We don’t have any exact information. However, we continuously are investigating any kind of presence of guerrilla leaders or other persons wanted by Interpol,” Hurtado added.
According to the official, “the coordination exist” between Colombia and Ecuador, despite the fact the country’s have strained dipomatic relations. “When it comes to police work there really are no borders. What matters is that there is peace and security,” the police commissioner said.
Venezuela, also accused of harboring FARC leaders, rejected the publication Sunday, saying the newspaper article has “little relevance”, because it is part of a long
campaign to “link the Venezuelan government to illegal organizations.”